Feeding device



Jan. 26, 1932. E. w. MENKE 1,842,762

FEEDING DEVICE Filed April 18, 1928 l gmnn toqpl 5 g (go ware W Men/(e s51, QM a Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWARD W. MENKE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ST. REGIS PAPER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK FEEDING DEVICE Application filed April 18,

machine, patented May 10, 1927, No. 1,628,267. Such devices have been found satisfactory for some materials, such as cement, but clog and do not work satisfactorily with certain other materials, such as flour, for ex ample. It is the purpose of this invention to improve feeding devices of the type referred to so that they will handle flour and similar material without clogging.

T he objects and details of the invention will appear more fully as the description of one specific embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical elevation through apparatus embodying one form of the invention and Figure 2 is a section 011 the line 22 of Figure 1.

In the embodiment of the invention chosen for an example, there is a substantially cylindrical casing 10 which has a chute or hopper 11 leading into the top thereof from one side.

The front wall 12 of this chute or hopper rises slantingly over the top of casing 10 and bushings 13 are mounted in any suitable manner above the axis of the casing. A shaft 14 mounted in bushings 13 extends downward into the casing. Shaft 14 may be d *iven by agear 15 mating with a gear 16 which in turn is driven by a pulley 17 or in any other suitable manner.

In the construction shown, there are agitator arms 18 mounted on shaft 14 at the top of casing 10 so as to insure the feeding of material downward from the chute into the casing. Angular blades 19, 20,21 and 22 are mounted upon the shaft and form in ef- 1928. Serial No. 270,839.

feet a discontinuous screw propeller which forces the material downward.

Immediately above the bottom 23 of the casing there is mounted a disk 24: having proeller ribs 25 approximately radial of the upper surface thereof. Disk 24 and propeller blades 25 may be driven by means of a pulley 26 on shaft 27 extending upward through the bottom 23 of the casing and attached to the hub of the disk and propeller blades.

An opening 28 in the side of the casing is provided with a gate 29. The opening leads into a boss 30. A spout 31 adapted to enter the valve of a bag may be connected to boss by means of a flexible sleeve 32, or other suitable and proper connections may be made between a filling spout and the opening from the propeller.

in the construction shown, the casing is disclosed as being provided with two of these discharge openings and associated parts, the

econd one being designated with the same numerals as the first, with a prime added, so that the description of one answers for both.

The device may be operated with only one of these discharge outlets, but a plurality of outlets are preferable for reasons which will be stated later.

By the construction shown, the material is forced downward between the propeller blades 25. This constant supply of mate rial is in turn forced outward by the propeller blades and provides a continuous stream of material through the dischar e opening so long as the supply is pressed between the pro peller blades at a proper rate. If the pres sure upon the material entering between the propeller blades is too little, the material does not crowd outward with suflicient force to keep the passage clear, and clogging results. On the other hand, if too great pressure is exerted upon the material enteringbe tween the propeller blades, there may be caking and clogging of many kinds ofmaterial from too great pressure. For this reason, the pitch of the blades 19 to 22, their number and rate of rotation must be properly adjusted for the kind of material which is being handled so as to produce a suflicient supply of material to prevent clogging and so as to avoid excessive pressure which will cake the material.

In handling material such as flour, which contains a large amount of air when stirred up loosely, the blades are arranged so that they compress the material to the desired amount and eliminate a large amount of air therefrom so that the material is comparatively compact as it issues from the feed spout. It will be readily understood that any desirable form of Weighing device may be connected with the feed spout or with a bag mounted on the feed spout, and the gate may be closed either by hand or automatically in any way desired when a bag has been filled.

' With most kinds of material, the propeller blades 25 may be rotated continuously during the interval the discharge gate is closed, without any deleterious effect, provided the screw bladesare stopped so that material is not crowded down into the propeller. Where a plurality of feed spouts are used in connection with one propeller, the spouts may be employee in succession or alternatively so that there is no necessity of stopping the screw at any time.

It will be readily understood that other forms of propellers which force the material out from the periphery thereof may be employed in place of propeller blades 25 and that other equivalent devices may beemployed in place of screw blades 19 to 22 to feed material into the space between the pro peller blades; and where the discharge is sub stantially continuous or where the entire feeding means is stopped during the interval between feeding bags, the screw blades or similar feeding means may be mounted upon the same shaft with the centrifugal propeller. However, the construction shown enables the operator stop the feeding without stopping propeller blades 25 and it enables the control of the speed of the screw blades independently of the speed of propeller blades lhis constitutes a more flexible control and, therefore, is advantageous when different kinds of material or materials of varying quality are to be fed.

In the appended claims, the term radial as applied to the propeller blades is intended to describe blades leading from the center to the periphery of the propeller, even though they may be at an angle to the true radius of the propeller, as they are in the propellers shown in the patents cited above by way of example. 7

Other changes in the construction and operation of the device'may be made within the terms of the appended claims.

WV hat I claim is .1. A feeder for valve bags comprising a cylindrical casing having a discharge opensmall in comparison with the diameter of the casing, means within the casing for forcing material longitudinally of the casing into the plane of the opening, and means within the casing in the plane of the opening for forcing material outward from the center of the casing.

2. A feeder for valve bags comprising a rotary propeller having radial blades, a casing surrounding the periphery of the propeller and having discharge opening therethrough, a pipe connected to the discharge opening and adapted to enter the valve of a bag and means to press material axially of the propeller into the space between the blades and having a capacity suflicient to keep said space filled.

3. A feeder for valve bags comprising a rotary propeller having radial blades, 21 cassurrounding the periphery of the propeller and having a discharge opening therethrough, means to press material axially of the propeller into the space between the blades, said pressing means having a capacity sufficient to keep said space filled, and separately operable means for driving said propeller and said pressingmeans.

i. In a feeder for valve bags, a cylindrical casing having its axis vertical, a shaft passupward through the bottom end of the a ing, a disk mounted at the bottom of the e e of the dish, a feed spout tangential f the casing at the level of said blades and adapted enter the valve of a bag, a shaft entering the top of said cylindrical casing, screw blades on the last said shaft andmeans for turning the last said shaft in the direction. to force material downward in the easing.

5. In a feeder forvalve bags, a cylindrical casing having its axis vertical, a shaft passing upward through the bottomend of the casing, a propeller having radial blades mounted on the shaft in the bottom of the casing, a plurality of discharge spouts extending from the casing on the level of said blades and adapted to enter valves of bags, a separate gate for each spout, a hopper for discharging material into the upper end of the casin a screw within said cylindrical casing for forcing material downward therein, and separate means for driving said propeller and said screw. .i

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

EDWVARD IV. MENKE. I

ing' in its side, said. discharge opening being i 

